After practice at the Dojo I often had a chance to listen to so interesting
stories about karate told by Master Seiko Higa that I almost forgot to go
home. Unfortunately Master Higa¡Çs wife had already passed away and it was
the poverty times just after World War Two, so he was forced to live
inconveniently. I sometimes invited him to my house for dinner and we had a
chat about karate. The followings are some stories told by Master Seiko
Higa.

(1) Seiko Higa was a relative of Anko Itosu of Shuri-Te style. Anko Itosu
taught young Higa when Higa still worked as a policeman in Shuri. Itosu was
a gentle and affable person. Once Itosu said to Higa, "Ushii Higaonna
("Ushii" was a nickname for young Kanryo Higaonna.) had a powerful
physique." Itosu spoke politely even to a maid. Higa respected him.

(2) Seiko Higa¡Çs father and grand father remembered To Ru Ko (= Ru Ru Ko)
and Wai Shin Zan as military officers of "Left and Right" (= maybe it means
a commander and a vice commander?) when the representative of Chinese
Emperor came to Ryukyu Kingdom (= now Okinawa) for the last time.

(3) Seiko Higa¡Çs father was a close friend of Kanryo Higaonna. He advised
Kanryo Higaonna to accept students and have his successors when Higaonna
returned from China. And then Juhatsu Kyoda became a student of Kanryo
Higaonna.

(4) Kanryo Higaonna went to Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China. He saved a
drowning girl during the floods. She was a daughter of Ru Ru Ko, so he was
accepted as a direct disciple of Ru Ru Ko. Higaonna¡Çs kicking technique
was the best among the students of Ru Ru Ko.

(5) Chojun Miyagi was a member of extremely rich family. He invited Kanryo
Higaonna to his house. He learned karate from Kanryo Higaonna there. After
practice he always entertained his teacher with a good meal. Kanryo
Higaonna was an asthma sufferer. Sometimes Chojun Miyagi and Seiko Higa had
a hard time relieving asthma attacks of their teacher.

The wooden sign saying ¡ÈDo not enter! We are practicing.¡É was hung
at the
entrance of the training hall while Chojun Miyagi was learning karate from
Kanryo Higaonna. During that time, Seiko Higa was waiting outside the
training hall. After a while Seiko Higa entered the training hall, and he
became a training partner of Chojun Miyagi and practiced karate with Chojun
Miyagi and Kanryo Higaonna.


- to be continued -


Sanzinsoo
http://uk.geocities.com/sanzinsoo